The Sovereign's Ascension

Three days later in the inn, Lin Yun walked out of his room. Li Wuyou was shocked by what he was seeing. Lin Yun’s eyes had sunk in, his complexion yellowed, and he looked exhausted. Li Wuyou couldn’t help but laugh, “Wow! What have you been doing for the past three days? You look drained!”

“Get lost.” Lin Yun scolded as he laughed. He was in a good mood.

“Haha!” Li Wuyou’s laughter grew louder.

Over the past three days, Lin Yun gave up on his rest and refined thirteen Xiantian Pellets. Out of the thirteen, he only failed three times. He was quite happy to have such a high success rate. It was a fruitful harvest for him. If there were no accidents, he could use them to reach the sixth orifice of the Xiantian Realm.

However, the process consumed a lot of his energy, making the efficiency quite low. Basically, he only managed to refine ten pellets in three whole days. He couldn’t help but think of the alchemist from his memory who easily refined pellets. Everything that he did was related to the Age Sutra. So for Lin Yun, he could only increase his efficiency if he practiced.

As they were leaving the inn, Lin Yun proceeded to lead the horse. However, Li Wuyou quickly stopped him and said, “Big Brother, let me do it. You can catch some sleep on the horse. You look terrible.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you,” replied Lin Yun.

“It’s no big deal. Quick, get up on it. Let me do this.” Li Wuyou smiled as he led the Dragon Blooded Horse. He didn’t care about anything else.

Along the way, Li Wuyou deliberately slowed down. By the time they arrived at the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s branch, it was already crowded with people. At this moment, the doors were already opened.

“Holy cow! So many people!” Li Wuyou was speechless as he looked at the multitude of people.

“That really is a lot.” Lin Yun spoke as he dismounted from the horse. He had rested for the amount of time it took for half a stick of incense to burn. His complexion had improved from his rest and he no longer looked so drained.

“Junior Brother Lin, over here!” Xin Yan beckoned to the two of them at the side door. Her outfit today made their eyes light up. She wore a long vermilion robe that made her look like a flaming rose, outlining her graceful figure.

“Lin Yun, be honest with me. What have you been doing for the past three days?” Xin Yan asked immediately when she saw Lin Yun.

“Nothing much…” he replied.

“What’s with that eye bag then? Lil’ Li, you speak,” commanded Xin Yan.

With a sly look in his eyes, Li Wuyou chuckled, “Big Brother Lin locked himself in his room for three whole days, so I have no idea what he has been doing. I only know that the commotion wasn’t small.”

The moment Li Wuyou spoke, Lin Yun immediately began to wonder what kind of friend he had.

“Tsk, tsk! You don’t seem to be that kind of person. You’re pretty strong to last three whole days.” Xin Yan raised her brow with the corner of her lips curled.

“Senior Sister, I’m not bad either…” said Li Wuyou with a profound smile.

Xin Yan was stunned when she heard Li Wuyou’s words. But in the next second, she began chuckling, “Do you even know what I’m talking about? With just a glance, I can tell that Junior Brother Lin has been cultivating all three days. So what are you trying to say?”

Everyone laughed, putting Li Wuyou in an embarrassing position as he chuckled.

“Alright. I’ll stop teasing you guys. It’s a big day today!” Xin Yan laughed as she went in.

Lin Yun was surprised when he looked at the flow of people in the main hall. There were at least ten thousand people here! It was amazing that there were so many people here despite the strict threshold to get into the Sword Firmament Pavilion. Lin Yun had to admit that there were many geniuses in the Great Qin Empire.

“Where’s Elder Luo?” Xin Yan was shocked when she couldn’t find Luo Feng anywhere. He was replaced by another elder, whose cultivation was also terrifying.

“Elder Luo has something important to deal with and he already returned to the sect. Elder Bai Ting is now in charge of the last examination.” Wang Yan’s voice sounded out from the side.

“Xin Yan, you have complaints about that?” Bai Ting raised his brow and looked at Xin Yan.

“No,” she replied.

“Good. I heard that you have a Seventh Grade Spiritual Physique with you. I have been hearing about his story for the past few days.” Bai Ting said lightly.

Xin Yan’s face immediately turned dark as she squeezed out a smile, “Elder Bai, you must be joking. It’s just the Seventh Grade Spiritual Physique. Besides, his cultivation is only in the fifth orifice of the Xiantian Realm, so there’s nothing special about him.”

“Nothing special? Even the Spiritual Orb shattered.” A person walked over. It was Wang Ning, the same Wang Ning who had his seeded candidate status removed three days ago. Although he didn’t look any different, a closer look revealed that his aura had already reached the level of a Profound Martial Realm cultivator!

“Elder Bai, this is my brother. He was removed from being a seeded candidate three days ago. He just managed to make a breakthrough into the Profound Martial Realm today.” Wang Yan immediately spoke out.

Nodding his head, Bai Ting replied, “According to the rules, anyone who reaches the Profound Martial Realm will be automatically considered as a seeded candidate. As for what happened, leave it in the past.”

The faces of Xin Yan’s group turned unsightly when they heard that Wang Ning restored his status as a seeded candidate. Wang Ning had caused trouble unreasonably, yet he actually became a seeded candidate once more.

“Thank you, Elder Bai.” Wang Ning clasped his hands together with a surge of excitement on his face.

“You’re Lin Yun?” Bai Ting turned to look at Lin Yun.

“I am,” said Lin Yun.

“Very well. I’m rather interested in you. Since your Martial Soul hasn’t been identified, bring it out and let me take a look at it.” Bai Ting said indifferently. From his tone, there wasn’t any room for rejection.

Wang Ning heard this and smugly looked at Lin Yun.

“Why is it different for others? None of them needed to bring out their Martial Soul.” Lin Yun questioned calmly.

“That’s because no one shattered the Spiritual Orb! Since I’m interested in seeing your Martial Soul. Are you trying to defy me or do you not dare to bring it out? I heard rumors that you either don’t have one or it is a trash Martial Soul!” Bai Ting squinted his eyes as his words became cold.

Anyone could tell that Bai Ting was in cahoots with Wang Yan to embarrass Lin Yun. Wang Ning slandered Lin Yun three days ago, saying that he had a poor aptitude. Yet again, they were slandering him with the same tactic.

“Do I really need to bring it out if I want to become a seeded candidate?” Lin Yun looked at Bai Ting.

“That’s right.” Bai Ting wouldn’t allow Lin Yun to reject.

“Well, I might as well give up on it.” There was no way Lin Yun could bring out his Martial Soul. He could only bring out a strand of sword gleam, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to receive any recognition for it. When he was done speaking, he turned around and joined the crowd. 

Xin Yan’s face had turned cold. She looked at the smug faces of Wang Yan and Wang Ning.

“Senior Sister Xin Yan, we didn’t do anything. He’s the one who gave it up willingly.” Now that Wang Ning’s cultivation had reached the Profound Martial Realm, his strength had undergone a great boost. He no longer had to be afraid of this woman.

“You guys are too much! I don’t need to be a seeded candidate either!” Li Wuyou snorted and followed Lin Yun.

“Wang Yan, just you wait.” Xin Yan was trembling from the anger as she gritted her teeth and chased after the two who left.

“You guys aren’t going to follow?” Wang Yan looked at Li Xiaotian and the rest with a mocking expression on his face.

“No, we’re fine.” Li Xiaotian and the others chuckled, looking uncomfortable.

Bai Ting paid no attention to the dissatisfaction of the other elders and spoke out, “Proceed as usual. Let’s continue to the final examination.”

Down on the stage, Xin Yan found Lin Yun and Li Wuyou among the crowd and smiled bitterly, “Why are you two so impulsive?”

“That’s because they’re taking it too far!” Li Wuyou felt indignant.

“They’re only depending on Elder Bai Ting to back them up… The status of a seeded candidate doesn’t actually matter. It’s just that the two of you have to be careful. I’m afraid that Wang Yan will go after you guys,” sighed Xin Yan.

“We will be careful. Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister.” Lin Yun remained calm and composed. He had killed so many people from the Wang Clan back in the Azure Sun Realm. So it was natural that the brothers wouldn’t let him off. Then again, he never had any designs to reconcile with Wang Ning.

He already swore that he would kill Wang Ning to take revenge for Senior Hong. So if he had a chance to do so, he would definitely not let it go.

“I’ll go back first. There are still a few people that I have to take care of. Remember not to be impulsive. I really hope that I can become your Senior Sister.” Xin Yan looked at Lin Yun seriously.

“I’ll do my best,” replied Lin Yun.

Xin Yan smiled and turned to Li Wuyou, “You as well. Be careful.”

“Thank you, Senior Sister. But I’m someone who’s going to become the strongest swordsman in the Great Qin Empire. How will I die so easily?” Li Wuyou smiled as he boasted.

Lin Yun naturally wanted to join the Sword Firmament Pavilion. But if people were purposefully making things difficult for him so he would fail him, there was nothing he could do about it. However, Li Wuyou’s actions touched him. Li Wuyou actually gave up being a seeded candidate just to be together with him.

Li Wuyou chuckled, “You don’t have to be touched by this. I only did it to win Senior Sister’s favor. Hehe. Didn’t you see how she smiled at me before she left earlier?”

Still as narcissistic as before. Lin Yun smiled. He was touched for nothing.

As time passed, more people came to gather in the front hall. On the front platform, there were also those who had reached the Profound Martial Realm making their appearance. 

In summary, the Great Qin Empire was truly a place with crouching tigers and hidden dragons. So many candidates with cultivation in the Profound Martial Realm had come. No one knew how these people cultivated to achieve such high cultivation at such a young age.

“Now that everyone’s here, let me talk about the final examination of the Sword Firmament Pavilion…” Bai Ting suddenly stood up on the stage. His loud voice echoed and instantly calmed silenced the commotion among the candidates. “You guys will be sent to a small realm to undergo the examination.”

After a brief silence, Bai Ting continued, “You will be sent to the Firmament Realm. It’s a place filled with danger. You will encounter all kinds of terrifying demonic beasts. Your task is to travel through and walk out of the realm. When you reach the exit, you’ll also arrive at the Sword Firmament Pavilion. However, the examination isn’t that simple…”

Whoosh!

Bai Ting waved his hand and scattered jade pendants to the candidates. Lin Yun grabbed onto a jade pendant and saw a star within it.

“What the hell is this?” asked Li Wuyou as he started messing with it.